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Website: http://na.wargaming.net/
Three Great Games: One Universe
World of Tanks, World of Warplanes, and World of Warships. Three great games made by one company. As far as war simulation goes you will be hard pressed to find anything so robust, balanced, good looking, and exciting as these three titles. Each is uniquely different and all were crafted with love and care. Special attention was given to making these historical tanks, planes, and ships accurate and realistic but not to the point where realism throws off the balance of the game. The matches are quick and exciting with a moderate learning curve for new players and enough strategic depth to keep pro-gamers coming back for more. Each title is also free to play with a fair monetization model that does not interfere with gameplay. I have personally logged tons of time into these titles and am pleased to call them my action war simulations of choice.
World of Tanks
The first of the Wargaming series launched for PC in 2011. I originally scoffed at the game thinking it was some sort of World of Warcraft clone for tanks but was pleasantly surprised to find an action strategy World War 2 gem instead. Matches consist of two teams of fifteen players duking it out to either be the last team standing or to capture the enemy base before time ends. Playing smart, using terrain and cover to your advantage, and good teamwork are the keys to success.
World of Tanks rewards skill and teamwork. It is realistic enough that playing the game like an arcade will get you blown to bits in the first minute but the realism is offset by enough arcade gameplay to keep things balanced, fair, exciting, and fun. The mechanics take geometry and physics into account which makes positioning very important for deflecting enemy fire and landing critical hits on your enemy's more vulnerable components. Each vehicle is different and offers diverse styles of play.
Light Tanks are small and fast with great handling and superior spotting capability. They are ideal scouts and artillery hunters. Once an enemy has been spotted every team member within radio distance can see them, which makes these little guys an essential part of any team.
Medium Tanks are larger and more heavily armoured than their light cousins. Most can be upgraded to pack a heavy punch and are maneuverable enough to intercept lights and surround heavies.
Heavy Tanks are the backbone of a platoon, with thick armour and hard hitting shots they are a force to be reckoned with. Their lack of mobility and slower firing rate, makes them vulnerable if not supported.
Tank Destroyers are the snipers of the tank world. Their long range guns and heavy front armour make them deadly at a distance but lack of maneuverability and weak side and back armour make them vulnerable up close.
Artillery has little to no armour but carries the biggest punch of all. "Arty" can fire all the way across the map and destroy unwary enemy tanks in one shot. However, the reload time is agonizingly slow.
World of Tanks has seven tech trees full of authentic historical war vehicles to upgrade, customize, and master.
What sets world of tanks apart from the other two titles is the importance of cover and geometry. Despite what most cinematics for this game will show you the bulk of your time will be spent hiding behind cover, not zipping about going toe to toe with other tanks in the open. Positioning behind a sturdy building, trench, line of trees, or sand dune makes it so the enemy team can't see you and allows you to get off some good shots when they move about in the open. Cover is also important for deflecting enemy shots and keeping you safe from lethal artillery strikes. To do well in this game you need to minimize your tank's exposure to damage while also keeping line of fire on your enemies. This is more exciting than it sounds as you try to gauge when to re-position yourself either to move up with your team, gain line of sight over the next ridge, or avoid being surrounded. Likewise failing to properly scout enemy positions and just rushing forward can get you ambushed by enemies lying in wait. This game makes you think like you're in a real tank battle.
When a team works together the game is gold. Getting a surprise surround on a heavy tank and taking it out with two or three allies never gets old. Focus firing enemies with a platoon of friends safely out of the line of sight of the enemy team as your scout spots their locations is a blast. Getting into intensely close matches is always exciting. When your team is dysfunctional... well... thank goodness the match will probably be short.World of Warplanes
The second of the Wargaming titles, this one was released in 2013. Much more than just 'World of Tanks' in the air, World of Warplanes looks and feels like an action filled dogfight simulation. Two teams of fifteen pilots each are tasked with either eliminating the other team or gaining victory points by destroying enemy ground targets. The action is fast but the controls are intuitive and players can choose between keyboard, mouse, and joystick without any real disadvantage putting everyone on equal footing. Warplanes is more arcade-like than World of Tanks but the simplification of flying a plane makes for exciting matches and a reasonable learning curve for new players.
The progression of Warplanes follows the same pattern as World of Tanks, you begin with access to the first planes that were used in WWII for a handful of nations including the US, Britain, Germany, Russia, and Japan. Each match you play earns you experience and silver according to your performance which can be used to research new components, upgrade your plane, and purchase consumables and new planes. There are four different classes of plane to choose from.
Fighters
The nimble fighter exercises aerobatic superiority, able to out maneuver larger planes in close combat and evade enemy fire with tight turns, barrel rolls, and other creative high-speed tricks. Fighters excel at getting into enemy blind spots and punishing less maneuverable targets for straying too close.
Multirole Fighers
An all-purpose fighter capable of filling multiple roles on a team. While less nimble than their smaller fighter cousins their larger design fields more powerful armaments and engine. Some can be outfitted with rockets and bombs or high caliber machine guns to damage ground targets. The key to playing this role is versatility.
Heavy Fighters
The hunters of the sky, these large fighters are usually equipped with two powerful engines, a devastating armament up front, and a rear gun to defend the back. Heavy Fighters are very fast and out perform other planes and high altitudes. Their low maneuverability makes them vulnerable to close combat but their speed and power make them ideal for high altitude diving and fly-by attacks. They can deal moderate damage to ground targets and some heavy fighters can be equipped with bombs.
Attack Aircraft
The anti-ground target aircraft, these large and heavily armoured aircraft boast heavy front machine guns, bombs, and rear gunners. The least maneuverable class, what they lack in speed and turning radius they make up for in armour, hit points, and firepower. Unwary fighters will find themselves quickly scrapped if they wander into the line of fire of one of these flying fortresses. Attack Aircraft are best played at either high or low altitudes to sneak past enemy planes on their way to important ground targets.
The matches are quick and fun, especially quick (and perhaps less fun) if you don't know what you're doing. World of Warplanes rewards player skill and proper use of flight dynamics. Different planes should use different tactics according to what they encounter and endlessly turning to get a shot on an enemy is an unimaginative and often easily countered tactic. The key to out maneuvering other pilots in equally performing aircraft is to use speed and potential energy against them. Put in layman's terms: "always try to stay above them." You have more potential energy if you are higher up. You can descend to pick up speed, out maneuvering your foe, and get some good shots off while they are either unable to hit you or have to use up their speed to climb up towards you. This is what makes heavy fighters so powerful, as they can climb higher and faster than other planes and then turn around and descend at very high speeds while enemies are either still and their original altitude level and most now evade or foolishly attempted to follow on the ascend and are sitting ducks because they used up all their speed.
The maps are understandably larger and more open than World of Tanks. Each map features a variety of terrain types which provide cover for low flying planes and hazards for low flying pursuers that range from canyons to trees to bridges. Both factions will be responsible for protecting several ground targets while attempting to destroy the ground targets of their enemy. For each enemy destroyed (plane or ground target) the victory count down speeds up in your team's favor. For each ally lost (plane or ground target) your victory timer is reset and the enemy's timer speeds up. Each team also has a head quarters which increases the accuracy of the various AA guns which automatically shoot at enemies within range. The HQ is a prime target for enemy attack aircraft.
Where you position yourself on the map has tactical value. Different planes perform better at different altitudes and there are ground features and cloud cover to mask your presence from the enemy team. When you are targeting an enemy the icons in the HUD will indicate their firepower, speed, and maneuverability in relation to you own which will greatly affect how you deal with that target. If you have superior firepower then a head on assault will be favorable but if you do not then you will need to evade their assault and try to hit them from a different angle. If you have superior speed then it will be easier to use altitude to your advantage and safely disengage from close combat. If you have superior maneuverability then it will be favorable to engage in close quarters dogfights with tight turns.
Teamwork is important in Warplanes. Attack Aircraft need to be escorted and zippy little fighters will quickly be scrapped out of the sky if they are solo and encounter a group of enemies. Enemy planes are easier to hit when they are zeroing in on an ally so breaking off from your current target to assist an ally is both helping your team and hurting the enemy more than if you had done otherwise. Situational awareness is also very important for navigating the angry swarm of enemies and allies in close quarters combat as collisions are fatal... and surprisingly common. I have witnessed too many allies colliding and killing each other while chasing a wily enemy pilot. Baiting enemy pilots with one or two low flying fighters may convince the entire squadron to descend and upon them up to attack from hidden allies up high.
Warplanes is my combat flight sim of choice. It's beautiful, fast, and fun. I love games that reward skill over luck or reflexes and Warplanes does just that. I like that it's realistic enough to feel like you're engaging in a dogfight but arcade-like enough to not have to bother with controlling multiple flaps, landing gear, and tail fins while also manning a machine gun. It's just pick up and go and while die-hard flight sim fans and history buffs will probably look down upon the liberties taken to make the game fast, fun, and balanced, I love it.
World of Warships
The newest game of the Wargaming series, World of Warships was recently released September 2015. After my exceptionally good experiences with World of Tanks and World of Warplanes I had high expectations for World of Warships and am pleased to say that it did not disappoint. Warships is, as far as I know, the only multiplayer modern naval combat sim in existence but it is also well made, with polish and depth just one would expect from Wargaming.net. Part World of Tanks, part Artillery sim, part slow motion chess, and part telepathy World of Warships is unique, engaging, and fun. Just like the games that have come before it Warships allows you to engage in 15 v 15 multiplayer battles and rewards teamwork and skill.
The layout and progression follows the same format as Tanks and Warplanes but with some notable exceptions. At the time of this writing Warships only has 2 nationalities, the US and Japan and you begin with their first tier cruisers. Every game you play nets you experience and silver according to your performance which you can use to upgrade your ship and unlock other ships through the national tech trees. Where warships differs from the others is that the game introduces upgrades, crew skills, and consumables one at a time as you level up making for a more gentle learning curve. In addition to this the tier of your ship does not have as great an effect on how you fair in combat and players have the option of teaming up against the AI (useful for trying out a new ship or upgrading from stock).
The maps are very large and even the low tier ships have guns with a firing range of 10km. Piloting your vessel through the water is a different experience than driving a tank or flying an airplane. It takes longer for your ship to gain and lose inertia which means that once you commit to an action you cannot take it back. This means that you always need to be thinking a few steps ahead, anticipating what the enemy will do and acting accordingly. The slower reaction time combined with the fact that most ships fire a dozen guns at once make the game feel epic rather than sluggish. These ships are titans of the sea and their grace and power make them feel the part.
Since the guns on your warship are so big you will be able to hit enemies from a fair distance. This means two things, first it means that you will need to fire where you think the enemy ship will be once your shots land, second it means that you need to be aware of enemy lines of fire or you will be taking shots from every part of the map. Similar to world of tanks it is important to stay in cover, although the cover for a battleship will be different than the cover for a Tiger I. Most maps in warships are dotted by islands big and small which will hide ships from view and block enemy fire. Destroyers are able to put down smoke screens to mask allies and a change in course soon enough can evade artillery fire.
Another interesting point that sets Warships apart from Tanks and Warplanes is the way to get critical hits against your foes. Every ship can fire either explosive rounds are armour penetrating rounds and the strength of your guns determines their effectiveness. If you are able to penetrate the armour of an enemy ship you can try to aim for the 'citadel' points (boiler rooms + gun magazines) for extreme damage. These citadel points are located directly below smoke stacks and gun turrets and the option to target them offers more skilled and daring captains a risk / reward scenario that always feels fantastic when pulled off successfully.
There are four different classes in World of Warships, each plays significantly different than the others.
Battleship
Historically battleships were made obsolete by torpedo carrying aircraft even while they were being created. In Warships though they function as the heavy hitting damage soakers that tear smaller ships to bits and can fire half way across the map. Equipped with multiple primary heavy artillery, a large arsenal of secondary short range guns, and AA defense these ships are big, heavily armoured, and slow. The thick armour on a battleship makes it invulnerable to critical strikes from all except other battleships. While powerful and boasting the most hitpoints and thickest armour the Battleship is vulnerable to torpedoes, bombers, and being surrounded by other ships. A smart Battleship captain will go with an escort and use his presence to support fellow team members and leading a charge, not going solo which is a good way to die.
Cruiser
Cruisers are the multipurpose ships capable of filling multiple support roles and acting as the natural counter to enemy destroyers. Smaller and lighter than battleships cruisers are faster and more maneuverable while still capable of firing full artillery salvos. Each cruiser is different, some are heavier and play like a fast firing mini battleship, some are very fast to hunt down destroyers and out maneuver larger ships, some have torpedoes, and some have special anti-aircraft guns. Cruisers play a very valuable support role for battleships and the team as a whole.
Destroyers
Destroyers are the stealthy killers of the seas. They are small, lightly armoured, very fast, and are capable of launching devastating torpedo attacks. Their low profile allows them to get closer to enemy ships without being spotted and their maneuverability makes them a difficult target to hit. Destroyers also come equipped with smoke screens and engine boosts to make them even more elusive. When firing torpedoes captains have the choice of using a wide or narrow spread to either maximize number of hits or chance of hitting. Torpedoes deal massive damage and will often cause enemies to flood taking additional damage over time. It is possible to sink a Battleship with full health by hitting with a full round of torpedoes.
Aircraft Carriers
Aircraft carriers play very differently than the other ships. Instead of firing artillery and trying to zoom your sights in on distant targets aircraft carriers zoom out to get a tactical view of the entire map and command squadrons of fighters, torpedo planes, and bombers. Aircraft carriers are powerful support class ships and the highest priority targets as they are capable of superior scouting, long distance torpedo attacks, and superior anti-aircraft defense.
Since the guns on your warship are so big you will be able to hit enemies from a fair distance. This means two things, first it means that you will need to fire where you think the enemy ship will be once your shots land, second it means that you need to be aware of enemy lines of fire or you will be taking shots from every part of the map. Similar to world of tanks it is important to stay in cover, although the cover for a battleship will be different than the cover for a Tiger I. Most maps in warships are dotted by islands big and small which will hide ships from view and block enemy fire. Destroyers are able to put down smoke screens to mask allies and a change in course soon enough can evade artillery fire.
Another interesting point that sets Warships apart from Tanks and Warplanes is the way to get critical hits against your foes. Every ship can fire either explosive rounds are armour penetrating rounds and the strength of your guns determines their effectiveness. If you are able to penetrate the armour of an enemy ship you can try to aim for the 'citadel' points (boiler rooms + gun magazines) for extreme damage. These citadel points are located directly below smoke stacks and gun turrets and the option to target them offers more skilled and daring captains a risk / reward scenario that always feels fantastic when pulled off successfully.
Battleship
Historically battleships were made obsolete by torpedo carrying aircraft even while they were being created. In Warships though they function as the heavy hitting damage soakers that tear smaller ships to bits and can fire half way across the map. Equipped with multiple primary heavy artillery, a large arsenal of secondary short range guns, and AA defense these ships are big, heavily armoured, and slow. The thick armour on a battleship makes it invulnerable to critical strikes from all except other battleships. While powerful and boasting the most hitpoints and thickest armour the Battleship is vulnerable to torpedoes, bombers, and being surrounded by other ships. A smart Battleship captain will go with an escort and use his presence to support fellow team members and leading a charge, not going solo which is a good way to die.
Cruiser
Cruisers are the multipurpose ships capable of filling multiple support roles and acting as the natural counter to enemy destroyers. Smaller and lighter than battleships cruisers are faster and more maneuverable while still capable of firing full artillery salvos. Each cruiser is different, some are heavier and play like a fast firing mini battleship, some are very fast to hunt down destroyers and out maneuver larger ships, some have torpedoes, and some have special anti-aircraft guns. Cruisers play a very valuable support role for battleships and the team as a whole.
Destroyers
Destroyers are the stealthy killers of the seas. They are small, lightly armoured, very fast, and are capable of launching devastating torpedo attacks. Their low profile allows them to get closer to enemy ships without being spotted and their maneuverability makes them a difficult target to hit. Destroyers also come equipped with smoke screens and engine boosts to make them even more elusive. When firing torpedoes captains have the choice of using a wide or narrow spread to either maximize number of hits or chance of hitting. Torpedoes deal massive damage and will often cause enemies to flood taking additional damage over time. It is possible to sink a Battleship with full health by hitting with a full round of torpedoes.
Aircraft Carriers
Aircraft carriers play very differently than the other ships. Instead of firing artillery and trying to zoom your sights in on distant targets aircraft carriers zoom out to get a tactical view of the entire map and command squadrons of fighters, torpedo planes, and bombers. Aircraft carriers are powerful support class ships and the highest priority targets as they are capable of superior scouting, long distance torpedo attacks, and superior anti-aircraft defense.
So there we have it, three games, one review, all of them recommended on their own merit. The folks at Wargaming.net know their stuff. Their titles strike an excellent balance between historical realism and gameplay to make them exciting, challenging, balanced, beautiful, and fun. I love free to play games that actually let you play for free and have a quality experience, and Wargaming.net has put out three titles that do just that.
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